The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for determining the severity of pressure sores, such as, for example, wounds or ulcers associated with an individual, and to assess the rate at which such wounds heal. The present invention relates more specifically to an optical apparatus and a method for using the optical apparatus that enables medical personal to accurately measure an effectiveness of a given pressure sore treatment.
Individuals that are immobile, such as, for example, individuals confined to a bed for an extended period of time, have a tendency to develop pressure sores (or ulcers). Pressure ulcers, commonly referred to as bed sores or pressure sores, are areas of local tissue trauma with a skin defect in the superficial (e.g., epidermis) or deeper (e.g., dermis) layers of the skin. Such sores usually develop where soft tissue is compressed between bony prominences and external surfaces for a prolonged period of time, and can extend into layers deeper than the skin (e.g., subcutaneous layer). Pressure sores are often painful and slow to heal.
Procedures for treating bed sores vary in effectiveness and cost. Although cost is an important consideration in selecting a course of treatment, the treatment that is chosen may also depend upon other factors, such as, but not limited to, the nutritional and general health status of the patient (individual). Further, since each individual reacts to treatments differently, a treatment that is effective for one patient may be ineffective (or less effective) for another patient.
Typically, the effectiveness of a selected treatment is determined by manually examining the bed sore. For example, an approximation of the severity of the bed sore may be determined by measuring the length and width using a mechanical measuring device, after which, a subjective estimation of the depth of the ulcer is made. By repeating this examination over a period of time, and comparing the measured results, it is possible to determine the degree of healing (or lack of healing) of the wound. Unfortunately, such a procedure is very labor intensive, and requires that the examination and measurements be performed by skilled personnel. Further, such measurements are inaccurate, and require long periods of time (e.g., such as, for example, several days) between measurements to determine whether the selected treatment is effective or should be changed.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method that quickly and accurately determines the effective of a treatment selected for healing a bed sore. The apparatus is easily operated by an individual, such as a technician, certified nurse assistant, or other non-medical personal. The apparatus measures and/or characterizes a selected skin lesion, and has a capture device that produces data representing an image of an object; a processing device that processes the data to derive a three-dimensional model of the skin lesion, which is stored in a database; and a reporting device, such as, for example, a display, that indicates at least one specific property of the selected skin lesion, wherein the processing device determines a change in at least one specific property by comparing the three-dimensional model with at least one previously derived three-dimensional model stored in the database.
According to an advantage of the invention, the capture device includes, for example, an electronic stereoscopic camera, an electronic camera having at least two periscopes, plural cameras, an electronic camera that captures at least two images on a split frame, a scanner, or any other capture device that captures space diverse views of the object.
According to a feature of the invention, the capture device includes a memory to stores the captured image. Accordingly, the stored captured image may be analyzed by the processing device at a time that is substantially later from when the image was captured. In this regard, the apparatus includes an interface that selectively connects the capture device to the processing device.
According to another feature of the invention, the data representing an image includes information related to at least one of color, and texture of the object. This data may be stored in the database and is correlated with a selected information, such as, for example, at least one of patient identification, lesion location, the date the data representing the image of the object was produced, the time the data representing the image of the object was produced, and identification of personnel treating the object.
A still further feature of the invention is the inclusion of a pattern generator that projects a predetermined pattern onto the object. The predetermined pattern projected by the pattern generator may be, for example, a grid pattern, or a plurality of geometric shapes.
According to another object of the invention, a method is disclosed for measuring and/or characterizing a selected skin lesion. The method produces data that represents an image of an object; processes the data to derive a three-dimensional model of the skin lesion, which is stored in a database; and indicates at least one specific property of the selected skin lesion, wherein a change in the at least one specific property is determined by comparing the three-dimensional model with at least one previously derived three-dimensional model stored in the database.
According to an advantage of this method, an electronic stereoscopic camera, an electronic camera having at least two periscopes to capture the image, multiple cameras, a camera that captures at least two images on a split frame, a scanner, or any capture device that captures space diverse views of the object may be used to capture the image.
The captured image may be stored in a memory, so that, for example, it can be processed at a time that is substantially later from when the image was captured, and/or at a location remote from where the image was captured.
According to a still further object of the invention, a method is disclosed for characterizing features of an object, in which an initial image view is transformed to a two-dimensional physical perspective representation of an image corresponding to the object; unique features of the two-dimensional perspective representation of the image are identified; the identified unique features are correlated to produce a three-dimensional physical representation of all uniquely-identified features; and three-dimensional characteristic features of the object are determined.
A still further object of the invention comprises an apparatus for measuring and/or characterizing features of an object, comprising an imaging device that capture a two-dimensional image of the object, a processing device that processes the captured image to produce a three-dimensional representation of the object, in which the three-dimensional representation includes parameters indicating a predetermined feature of the object; a database that stores the parameters; a comparing device that compares the stored parameters to previously stored parameters related to the object to determine a change in the three-dimensional representation of the object; and a reporting device that uses results of the comparison by the comparing device to generate a report pertaining to a change in the object.